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I purchased a house with a pool in the fall of 2012. I don’t know anything about pools and figured I would use a professional company to do the closing, opening, and likely weekly maintenance until I learned.

I hired Craig in the Fall of 2012 to do the closing. The cost was $500. It took his guys 3-4 hours to complete the job. I thought they did a great job and were very thorough.

$500 sounded like a lot at first, but when I saw all the work that went into it I felt good about spending the money. One of the guys (George) was clearly the expert, while the other younger guy was more of a helper.My wife reached out to Craig again this spring to do the opening. At first he told us the price would be $400. During a subsequent conversation he raised the price to $500 because we had an Aqualink system (he said it would take additional time to do all the programming).

$500 sounded fair given what the closing cost and how long it took. His guys were done in about 30 minutes. They took off the cover, replaced the plugs and sprinkled a bag of chemicals into the pool. That was it.

They didn’t know anything about how the Aqualink worked and did nothing to program it. They did nothing to clean all the leaves out of the pool or anything else. I was tempted to write out the check for $400 given that the difference between the $400 and $500 service was the Aqualink and they didn’t do anything with it, but I figured I’d just call Craig.I called Craig and basically said I felt taken advantage of. His response was to tell me how much he was charging other people for jobs.

He referenced replacing a liner that took 2 hours and charging something like $3,500 (although I assume that has a materials cost associated with it, as opposed to the opening which was simply 2 guys labor costs for 30 min and a small bag of chemicals that can be bought on Amazon for $10 to $20). Basically, he got me.It’s also worth noting that he seems to go by a lot of different names. When I hired him in the fall it was Craig Forchetti pools. This spring the invoice shows “A-1 Pools and Spas“.

When I vrote out the check the guy (George again, who was again fantastic) told me to make it out to Vance Forchetti. If you do some quick Google research you’ll see these guys have somewhat of a history. I’m a member of Angies List as well and while Craig Forchetti is not listed, but A-1 is. Their rating is a D.I thought the guys that came to my house did a great job, I just think $500 for a 30 minute job with essentially no cost in materials was outrageous.

Maybe it’s shame on me for not doing my homework.

If you think the pricing was fair and/or you just don't care about the money, I'd say go ahead and use Craig. The work was good, I just felt taken advantage of.

Location: Morrisville, Pennsylvania

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Guest

in addition, they demand checks to be made out to Vance Forchetti, instead of a company name and do not accept credit cards. red flag already.

Guys show up in a car without any company markings. Google the company names.

Craig Forchetti, Vance Forchetti, Bob- seems they have changed names a number of times. Crooks

Guest

do NOT trust these guys. they dom substandard work, are waay overpriced and demand money up front. not happy at all.

Guest

They closed my pool. Price was not bad....but def worth it because they came out same day.

Guest

I Read how Forchetti Pools were a stand up company and decided to use them to Close mty Pool because it is has alot of Bells and whistles. I am so happy that I found Forchetti Pools .

They wee very Hands on and I feel confident in them. The past companies I had to use were Amatures.

Craig Forchetti is a true Professional. When I checked him out I found that he has been in Buisness for a very long time.

Guest

I Read anonymous initial complaint and saw how Craig Forchetti handled the complaint.I felt that Mr Forchetti was stand up so I decided to hire his compant for my pool repairs. I have to say, I am extreamly Please with Forchetti Pools workmanship.

THey are very on Ball and experianced. In fact, I would recommend them with High Praise.

I am the original owner of a 33 year old Pool. Forchetti did Tile / Recoating.

Guest

So I spoke with Craig. Sounds like we had a miscommunication up front about what the exact service would be.

Maybe the miscommunication was me and my wife, maybe it was my wife and Craig, no way to know. At the end, I think they did what was agreed to do. Craig says $500 is market for this kind of service. Maybe that’s the case, I have no way of knowing.

After seeing how easy it was I’ll handle the opening in the future. As for the closing, I still think $500 was a fair price and I’d use them again for that.

Guest

I am Craig Forchetti, an employee of A1-Forchetti Pools & Spas and very concerned about this complaint.Our Company never spoke to husband Jason Haft. We Spoke to his Wife Leah Haft and was very Clear of the Charges and the Scope of work included in the Normal opening of their Pool.

Mr Haft does not have his Facts Correct. For the record, Leah Haft agreed to Pay the fee of $495 for the Pool opening. That is the exact price She Paid for us to Close the Pool last Fall.They were happy with us and thats why they hired us again.They are new owners and requested an orientation once the pool got Filled and functional. I told her that was a different Charge by a different Person on a Different day.

That cost was $295 but I offerered to give her a $100 discount and she agreed and was Happy.I told her more than likely she would not need us to give orientation and I would be happy to help her via Phone free of charge if she had tech questions.She agreed and would let me know if she needed further asssistance since she is new at this.I sent Two of my crew leaders that have 20 years each experiance and they are able to perform satisfacorily opening in 40 minuets.husband Jason Haft is satisfied with work but wants Discount because it took longer in the Fall to Close Pool.Closings do take more time however the charge is the Same agreed upon price .It is Mr Haft who is unreasonable. He signed contract Prior that he would agree to the fee of $495 to open the Pool and Spa and was told the full scope of the work that we cover in the opening..He is mistaken about the aqua link additional charge.

The aqua link is alrady proogramed from the initial installation and needs no programing..we charge $495 for Pool & SPa opening and $395 for Pool Only opening.We spciffically told Leah Haft that we do not include Vacuming Pool in the opening Price.I am sorry that Jason Haft who we never spoke to waited till all work was performed to try to get a discount and now is complaining over every site out there.Please note that he can not say a bad word about our Companys work performance.There is a saying " you get what you pay for".In the words of Jason Haft we dis a FANTASTIC JOB". my ph # is 215 598-****if you would like to talk.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-647747

Biggest crock of *** ever. Tell the same story over and over again.

You guys are a bunch of scams. Who only takes cash and youve been a reputable business for years? Al is a schmoozer and will play the guilt trip on you to try to rob you of your money. I dont recommend this company to anyone.

Al is unprofessiomal and rude and I will get their licenses reviewed.

Rob you of your money written to a vince forchetti. But yet your a reputable business.

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